How bad we need each other
by Konzelwoman
Summary: "The people gonna be okay, Storms never come to stay, They just show us, How bad we need each other, How bad we need each other. And the trials of today, They are signs along the way, To remind us, How bad we need each other, How bad we need each other."


_AN: This will replace_ **Just Look Over Your Shoulder** _when it's done. And the song is "How bad we need each other" by Marc Scibilia._

When Katniss was little, long after her parents thought she was asleep, she would sneak down the stairs, and peek through the bannisters.

Every time she saw something different. Sometime her parents would be laughing, sometimes her mother would be crying into her father's shoulder, and sometimes they would be dancing.

When they danced, it was her favorite. Not only were they utterly and completely happy, which made her smile, but her father would be humming along to the song, the same song every time, as he held his wife close and they gently swayed to the beat.

He had a content smile that never left his face and his eyes twinkled as his wife nuzzled into the crevice of his neck.

Katniss may have been young, but she was old enough to know that she wanted that someday. That what she saw was special, and rare and real, and she wanted it so badly.

One night after witnessing her parent's dancing, she silently raced back to her room and took out a notepad and paper.

In her elementary handwriting, she scrawled, "Dear whoever, I don't know when I will meet you, and I don't know how, I just know that I will, and I hope I will know, without a doubt, that you are it. That you are real. Signed, Katniss Everdeen."

She folded the paper up and tucked it away in her box full of secrets before sneaking back to the bannister.

"Play it again, Sam," her mother said to her father in a silly voice.

Grinning from ear to ear, he said, "Sure thing, baby doll." and pressed play on the iPod sitting on the sound dock.

Katniss leaned into the bannister, committing this moment to memory, as the song played once more.

_Life is too far to walk alone,  
You can't do it on your own,  
It's like bare hands digging through stone._

_And if things go down much steeper hills,_  
_Even money won't pay these bills,_  
_But time will show you now._

_The people gonna be okay,_  
_Storms never come to stay,_  
_They just show us,_  
_How bad we need each other,_  
_How bad we need each other._

_And the trials of today,_  
_They are signs along the way,_  
_To remind us,_  
_How bad we need each other,_  
_How bad we need each other._

_And I can get so high,_  
_I get so high on myself sometimes,_  
_I keep on drifting a million miles,_  
_From this planet._

_But what a shame it would be,_  
_To look back on our lives,_  
_And realize that I've taken you,_  
_And you for granted._

_The people are gonna be okay,_  
_Storms never come to stay,_  
_They just show us,_  
_How bad we need each other,_  
_How bad we need each other._

_And whether we laugh,_  
_Or whether we grieve,_  
_I know both sides are gonna make us see,_  
_How bad we need each other,_  
_Don't you know how bad we need each other._

_And I cannot see what's a mile around the bend,_  
_I do not know where this world is headed,_  
_Or where it may end._

_But you gave me this smile,_  
_And so I threw away my frown,_  
_And I ain't gonna pick up,_  
_You don't pick up what you just put down._

_The people are gonna be okay,_  
_Storms never come to stay,_  
_They just show us,_  
_How bad we need each other,_  
_How bad we need each other._

_And the trials of today,_  
_They are signs along the way,_  
_To remind us,_  
_How bad we need each other,_  
_How bad we need each other._

_The people are gonna be okay,_  
_I said storms never come to stay,_  
_They just show us,_  
_How bad we need each other,_  
_How bad we need each other._

_We ought to take a little time to sit,_  
_Because the wisest men forget._  
_How bad we need each other,_  
_Don't you know how bad we need each other._

_And I need you more then I let it show,_  
_And you need me more then you know,_  
_We can't walk a single mile alone,_  
_Yeah I need you, I need you so darn bad._

X-X-X

Years passed, and it was time for the Jr. High school dance. Per usual, no one had asked Katniss to go with them, so her best friend Gale had offered, despite the fact that he was "two grades ahead of everyone and would be surrounded by nose picking dweebs, but he would do it for Catnip."

They had been at the dance several hours when Peeta Mellark came up to her.

"Hi, Katniss," he said, shoving his hands in his pockets, looking down at his shoes as the tips of his ears turned red.

If it were anyone else, she would have ignored them or assumed they were coming over to make fun of her, but not Peeta. They had hardly ever spoken, but she couldn't deny noticing him for some time now, and he was not the kind to pick on people.

"Hi, Peeta," she said, smiling as best she could, nerves getting the better of her. And what was that flopping in her stomach?

He looked up at her amazed, mouth slightly agape. "Y-you know my name?"

"Of course. You brought me cupcakes once, remember? You never forget the face of the person who brought you cupcakes."

He smiled a megawatt smile and went back to admiring his shoes.

"That's a nice tie you have," she continued, pointing almost lazily at the tie, her boldness surprising even her.

He lifted his eyes to look at her, his face still down cast, then looked at his tie with a lopsided grin. "Thanks. It's my favorite."

"You have a favorite tie?"

Peeta chuckled. "No. I actually hate the things. I meant it's my favorite color. Orange.

"Like Ms. Trincket's hair?"

Peeta only smiled bigger. "No. Not neon orange, or pumpkin orange. More like a sunset."

"Oh." She blushed, inwardly kicking herself. "Well, it's a good choice."

"Thanks!" He finally raised his face level with hers, and she immediately wished he hadn't. That grin, that dimple, that hair, those eyelashes, those eyes…. Those eyes so brilliantly blue and void of anything bad. She wished her stomach would stop growing bats, or that they would at least quit fluttering around so much.

"What's yours?"

"Hmmm?" She quirked her eyebrows at him, completely lost as to their topic of conversation. "What's my favorite tie? Um, I wouldn't know…."

Peeta threw his head back and laughed.

Katniss grabbed her elbow with the opposite hand, closing herself off from the inevitable attack coming from Peeta, and containing her humiliation. And those damn bats. They sure did like his laugh.

"What?" She asked so quietly, she was afraid she wasn't heard over all the music and chatter of her classmates.

"Nothing! No! You're funny, is all! I meant what is your favorite color?" Peeta looked at her, intrigued, his undivided attention on her.

"Oh," she chuckled nervously. "Green. Not like, puke green, or slime green, but nature green." She inwardly cringed at her choice of comparisons.

Peeta nodded in approval. "Excellent choice."

He sat down beside her, Gale long gone after three of the "nose picking dweebs" had asked him to dance, and they talked for what seemed like hours.

They talked about everything from who would win - Ninja vs. Samurai, Finnick vs. Cato, Mr. Abernathy vs. Cinna, to their personal lives, where she discovered the boy with the bread did not in fact have the perfect life. He rolled up the sleeves of his dress shirt, his coat long gone to the back of his seat, exposing bruises in the shape of hand prints, and one long, straight one, which he credited to a rolling pin.

"My mom," was all he said, rolling his sleeve back down.

She placed a hand on his sitting on the table between them. "I'm so sorry, Peeta. I had no idea. If it were up to me, that would never happen again. It would have never happened at all. If I ever come in and see her even flinch, I will-"

Peeta grabbed her hand and squeezed, making her stop and stare at it. "I have no doubt," he said, hooking a finger under her chin and lifting her face to be level with his. "Thank you."

They shared a small, shy smile, Katniss' quickly fading into her signature scowl.

"What?" Peeta asked, his face and voice showing genuine concern, his hand only getting tighter around hers as he looked around the room quickly.

"This song," Katniss said absentmindedly. "My parents used to dance to this song. I would sneak down onto the bannister and watch them."

Smiling, Peeta let go of her hand, stood up, and held out his hand, bent slightly at the waist. "Would you like to dance?"

_Bats, bats, go away,  
__And that is all I need to say._

"Sure," she gulped, taking his hand, trailing behind him as they walked the few feet to the dance floor.

They started the "appropriate" distance apart, swaying softly to the music, but as the lyrics started, she found herself melting into him, his body going rigid at first, but quickly relaxing, and tucked her face into the crook of his right shoulder as she hummed with the lyrics, a small smile on her lips.

_Life is too far to walk alone,  
You can't do it on your own,  
It's like bare hands digging through stone._

_And if things go down much steeper hills,_  
_Even money won't pay these bills,_  
_But time will show you now._

_The people gonna be okay,_  
_Storms never come to stay,_  
_They just show us,_  
_How bad we need each other,_  
_How bad we need each other._

She switched over to his left shoulder, her ear over his steady heart beat, which she noticed quickened as she continued to hum.

_And the trials of today,  
They are signs along the way,  
To remind us,  
How bad we need each other,  
How bad we need each other._

_And I can get so high,_  
_I get so high on myself sometimes,_  
_I keep on drifting a million miles,_  
_From this planet._

_But what a shame it would be,_  
_To look back on our lives,_  
_And realize that I've taken you,_  
_And you for granted._

She leaned up and whispered in his ear, "This is our song, FYI."

_The people are gonna be okay,  
Storms never come to stay,  
They just show us,  
How bad we need each other,  
How bad we need each other._

_And whether we laugh,_  
_Or whether we grieve,_  
_I know both sides are gonna make us see,_  
_How bad we need each other,_  
_Don't you know how bad we need each other._

"O-Our song?" he stuttered out, causing her to smile.

_And I cannot see what's a mile around the bend,  
I do not know where this world is headed,  
Or where it may end._

_But you gave me this smile,_  
_And so I threw away my frown,_  
_And I ain't gonna pick up,_  
_You don't pick up what you just put down._

"Yes. Because just like it says, 'we need each other'. I'm no good at making friends, and in just a short while, we know everything about one another."

_The people are gonna be okay,_  
_Storms never come to stay,_  
_They just show us,_  
_How bad we need each other,_  
_How bad we need each other._

_And the trials of today,_  
_They are signs along the way,_  
_To remind us,_  
_How bad we need each other,_  
_How bad we need each other._

"And we protect each other. It's just what we do," she concluded.

_The people are gonna be okay,_  
_I said storms never come to stay,_  
_They just show us,_  
_How bad we need each other,_  
_How bad we need each other._

_We ought to take a little time to sit,_  
_Because the wisest men forget._  
_How bad we need each other,_  
_Don't you know how bad we need each other._

Peeta smiled sadly, shaking his head slightly, looking off to the corner of the room. "Nobody needs me."

_And I need you more then I let it show,_  
_And you need me more then you know,_  
_We can't walk a single mile alone,_  
_Yeah I need you, I need you so darn bad._

She pulled away, looking him in the eye, wanting to make herself as clear as she could, despite the bats in her stomach which had seemed to turn into giant eagles. "I do. I need you."


End file.
